This invention relates to timers, more specifically, a timing pad where a weight sensor begins the timer when weight is removed from the pad and stops the timer when weight is returned.
When drinking with friends, contests sometimes emerge where one person believes that he or she can drink a beverage quicker than another. Typically the contest begins with someone yelling ‘go’ and commences with the first slamming of a glass or bottle onto a table. When such an event arises, the most common method of determining the winner in such a contest is by visual means. Simply watching the contest, however, has many drawbacks, including 1) having one person “sit out” of the contest by being forced to be the lookout, 2) the lookout having to keep close watch over all the participants in the contest, however numerous, 3) the lookout not being able to discern the fastest drinker because several participants finished at approximately the same time, and 4) disagreements arising as to who was the true victor.
But what if the lookout had a means of precisely recording the time it takes for someone to finish her drink? Wouldn't that make it easier to discern who was the true victor? In this situation, although the lookout would be able to record a precise time as to when a participant finishes his beverage, the lookout can only perform this function as to one participant only. A contest would not function using this method of timing because each participant having his or her own lookout timer would be the only way of determining a victor. Thus, although timing participants engaged in such contests is a good idea in theory, it is simply impractical in practice.
Thus, the present invention helps to alleviate the need for cautiously watching other participants and having many people serve as lookouts by having a pad which serves as a timer. Since each participant would have his or her own timing pad, the need for lookouts is eliminated and each participant will be able to be aware of the precise amount of time it took to finish the beverage.
The prior art includes the following United States patents:
U.S. Pat. No.InventorFiling DateIssue Date6,252,494 B1HowellJan. 28, 2000Jun. 26, 20015,644,298Brooks et al.Sep. 28, 1995Jul. 1, 19974,336,574GoodmanAug. 19, 1980Jun. 22, 19826,504,481 B2TellerDec. 8, 2000Jan. 7, 20034,334,113Ditto et al.Dec. 18, 1979Aug. 10, 19825,307,250PearsonMay 4, 1993Apr. 26, 19945,575,553TiptonJun. 23, 1995Nov. 19, 19966,026,126Johnson et al.Feb. 5, 1999May 16, 2000
None of the above patents or publications disclose a timing pad used in conjunction with the timing of drinking of a liquid.